NFL: Edgerrin James tells Sporting News he's "still got it''

Immokalee High School graduate and free agent NFL running back Edgerrin James told The Sporting News that he feels he can still play in the league.

James, who will turn 31 on Aug. 1, lost his starting job with the Arizona Cardinals in the middle of the season, then regained it for the playoffs and the Super Bowl, but reiterated his desire to be released after the season. The Cardinals released him after picking running back Chris "Beanie'' Wells from Ohio State in the NFL Draft in late April.

"Of course I've still got it," he told The Sporting News' Dan Steinberg at a birthday party for former University of Miami teammate Santana Moss in Washington, D.C., on Saturday night. "I was in a bad situation. Just look at my track record. I averaged 4.5 yards a game the last five, six games. Trust me, there's nothing wrong with me. It was a passing team. You're not gonna find a top two or three passing team with a top running game. Choose one or the other. Show me a team that's No. 1 passing and No. 1 running. You ain't got enough time."

The New Orleans Saints have shown interest in James.

"I'm trying to think about football next month," he said. "I'm just gonna take it easy and enjoy what I'm doing right now."

James also has had to deal with the death of his longtime girlfriend and mother of his four children in mid-April.

James' appearance at Moss' birthday party also explains James showing up a couple of days early to a New Hope Ministries youth football camp last week. James attended the camp on Thursday because he said he had a conflict on Saturday.